An Honest Mistake
by yumi-maki
Summary: One-shot. Shikamaru finds himself in a very strange situation - and all he did was go home. Written for the wonderful LJ community, 30 flowers.


**An Honest Mistake**

**#3 Petunia/Resentment**

**Disclaimer: I write for fun, not for profit.**

When Shikamaru entered his apartment, the first sign that something was amiss was the steam. It was pouring out of his open bedroom door in buckets and had caused the temperature in his apartment to rise overwhelmingly.

The second sign that things weren't as they should be was the water. As Shikamaru entered his bedroom and approached the also open bathroom door, he could hear the shower running but the steam prevented him from seeing into the actual room.

He tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand and continued advancing towards the chakra signal he sensed within the bathroom. It was possible that this was part of some clever ploy to confuse him and catch him off guard, thereby breaking down his defenses and slowing down his reaction time. It would have to be, anyway, because he couldn't think of even one of his friends who would resort to taking showers in his apartment without at least letting him know first.

And finally, the third and most definitive sign that something wasn't right would have to be the girl in his bathroom - the naked girl currently _taking a shower_ in his bathroom. He couldn't recognize her but he was currently too stunned for that to be more than an aside.

As soon as Shikamaru caught sight of her, he stumbled blindly out of the room and retreated to the safety of his living room where thankfully, there were no wet, naked girls in sight. He sank onto the couch and proceeded to engage in a deep breathing exercise to help his racing heart. He was almost sure that he was having a heart attack right now.

"Shikamaru?" a familiar voice called out, "is that you?"

Shikamaru froze where he was seated - make that a naked woman. Yep, now he was definitely having a heart attack.

In the other room, the water stopped and in only a matter of seconds, Shikamaru heard the menacing squelch of wet footsteps approaching.

Temari came and stood in front of him (clad only in a towel, mind you), one hand on her hips, hair open and damp and held in a ponytail by one of _his_ hair-ties. "Ah, so it is you. About time you came back," she pronounced, staring down at him nonchalantly.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru addressed her, keeping his eyes trained to the floor and his hands at his side, "what in the world are you doing here?"

"Taking a shower - obviously."

"Why are you taking in a shower in my apartment? Don't you have your own place for that?"

She sighed, "Well, it's not like that's the reason I came here. I actually came to see you but you weren't here so I figured I'd wait inside and I had just finished training so I was really hot and sweaty and you weren't here so - "

"So you just decided to take a shower while you waited for me," he finished.

"Yes, exactly," she responded matter-of-factly. Obviously she didn't see a problem with this.

"And what exactly were you planning to do for clothes?"

"Borrow some of yours. You don't mind, right?"

Shikamaru ventured a glance at her face - she looked totally nonplussed at this whole thing. He shook his head - it's not like he had a choice, "Take what you want. Just - what were you going to do if I came back while you were bathing? You must have thought of that."

She shrugged, "I would explain why I'm here - like I just did." She scoffed, "It's not like I think this is something that happens to you on a regular basis - or ever, to tell the truth."

Well, she had a point there. He sighed, "Fine. Just please go and get dress - " He broke off when a knock sounded on the door. They both turned to look at it and then Temari glanced back at him expectantly, "Well, aren't you going to get that?"

"Not with you here," he muttered before frowning and gesturing to her to leave. She rolled her eyes but did oblige.

Another knock sounded and this time it was accompanied by a voice. "Come on, Shikamaru! I know you're in there! I _just_ saw you enter your apartment building."

He sighed again - of all the people to come by now, it had to be her. "I'm coming," he half-shouted, getting off the couch and shuffling over to the door. When he reached it, he glanced behind him at his bedroom door - it was closed, as he'd hoped.

He opened the door part way and lodged himself into the space, "What do you want, Ino?"

She frowned and narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "That's no way to greet someone. Goodness, Shikamaru, you have the worst social skills!"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. Now what do you want?"

"Well, I've got the day off today and I thought maybe we could hang out. It's been awhile since we've really spent any time together. What do you think?"

Shikamaru frowned slightly - why was everyone desiring his company today? "Look, Ino - I'm kind of busy right now. Can we hang out later?"

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah, okay. Um, I'll probably be at home later so come by there if you're looking for me."

Shikamaru nodded and stepped back out of the doorway, already preparing to close the door, "Ok. I'll see you later, Ino."

"See you," she replied, turning to leave.

"Who is it, Shikamaru?" Temari called out, standing in the doorway of the bedroom, now fully dressed.

Shikamaru inwardly swore as Ino turned back and caught sight of the other woman. _'How troublesome,' _Shikamaru thought as the blondes' eyes met, held and narrowed.

Ino turned to him, looking positively murderous, "Shikamaru, what is she - ? Now where did he go?" she muttered, looking around wildly.

Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen.

**A/N: This was supposed to be funny but I don't really think it is. Please let me know what you think but be gentle!**


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